


People Come, and People Go

by at1stsoo



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Domestic, Hurt/Comfort, Light Angst, M/M, Military, Romance, nonAU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-30
Updated: 2019-05-30
Packaged: 2020-03-30 02:10:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,224
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19032610
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/at1stsoo/pseuds/at1stsoo
Summary: It's not the 2019 Kyungsoo wanted, but it's the one he's got.





	People Come, and People Go

**Author's Note:**

> Trigger warning? that this is about yesterday's news. I cope with sad news by writing so I banged this out today. This wasn't the kind of prompting I wanted for my nonau babies, but here we go. (It's baby angst, not capital A Angst.)

Kyungsoo waits at his computer, biting his nails in anticipation, despite them already having been chewed down to the quick for the past five months. The government’s email announcement should arrive anytime now this morning, on whether or not he’ll be called up for enlistment.

A ping in his inbox, and… It’s done. His application has been processed and accepted for a July enlistment. He’s committed, and there’s no backing out of this path now.

He breathes a sigh, unsure if it’s from relief of disappointment. Well, at least the next 21 months are clear. After feeling adrift, lingering in the uncertainty of the past 5 months, the clarity is nice.

He checks the time and notes that Jongin is still up in the air, flying back from Italy, and won’t land for a few more hours. He’s the person who has to know first, even if only ceremonially via a text hanging in undelivered cyberspace, so Kyungsoo sends him a message.

 _Got the email confirmation_  
_Enlistment date set: July 1_  
_See you at home_

After another quick text to his family’s groupchat to inform them it’s a go, he creates an email to manager Jaehyuk. He pauses, knowing Jaehyuk will be required to pass along the news immediately to the rest of the company. There’s no use putting it off, though. He attaches the official correspondence from the military and hits send. The company knew this was a possibility, but he can’t tell if they interpreted it as an idle threat or not when he first brought it up. Kyungsoo’s not much for bluffing, though: It’s not his first choice of how 2019 would pan out, but given the circumstances, it’s the best avenue forward now.

He’s probably got a few days before he’ll have to make a public announcement. He heads to the kitchen to immerse himself in meal prep for a nice dinner to welcome Jongin home with. Dicing onions is therapeutic, with the rhythmic sound of the knife striking the cutting board playing like the back beat of a mid-tempo song. He finds himself singing his upcoming Station song, his first solo in five years, as he chops all the veggies. The song is simple, but compliments his vocal agility nicely; he likes it and hopes fans will, too, if they get to hear it. Upon slicing the last of the carrots, he admires his tidy knife cuts with a small smile.

The unexpected hiatus this year has had its painful points, but he is proud of getting to complete many of his bucket list items. He wipes down the counter and continues with dusting the picture frames in the dining room, filled with the memories he’s made this year. His chef certificate, a pic of him and Chanyeol in a Marvel figurine store in Japan, a candid of him with the actor hyungs at their favorite dive bar, and one of Jongin with Rahee and Reon, when they took them on a hike one early morning. He feels his smile falter as he dusts over their smiling faces, knowing it’s going to be so long before they’ll all be together again. Will the kids even remember their uncle Kyungsoo in 2021? They’ll grow up so fast while he’s gone…

His phone rings insistently, pulling him out of his thoughts. It’s Jaehyuk. “Hello?” he answers.

The manager wastes no time getting to the point. “Kyungsoo, someone leaked the enlistment news.”

He feels his stomach drop. “Who?”

“I don’t know. It wasn’t me, I swear. But I did forward the notice to the appropriate executives. I’m not sure if-- I honestly don’t know what happened,” he says contritely. “But it’s all over Naver and Daum, lots of articles.”

It’s a kick in the gut, that everything is coming out like this. He’s supposed to have a few days, some time to at least see the members in person first, to have Jongin’s calming presence by his side when the media frenzy started…

“Fuck, I need to- Did SM confirm it yet?” He paces around his living room, not positive what he’s looking for until he sees pen and paper.

“They’re about to. I don’t know if they’re going to let you release an official statement, Kyungsoo. I--”

Frantically, he rips off a small square of paper from the notepad on the desk. “Jaehyuk, you have admin passwords to that Lysn app thing, right?”

The manager hesitates. “Yeah… but what are you wanting to do?”

He’s not even sure what the right words are but he’s got to act fast. It almost feels like the door is closing on his only opportunity to officially address his fans as EXO’s D.O… possibly forever. He takes a steadying breath and with a shaking hand, quickly pens down his sincere feelings:

 _Hello. This is EXO’s D.O._  
_EXO-L, you must’ve been surprised at the sudden news._  
_I wanted to let you all know first, but I feel as though I am a bit late which makes me heavy-hearted._  
_As much as this was a hard and long decision to make, I am leaving this message to tell you all that I will take care of myself and come back safely._  
_I want to sincerely thank EXO-L for always supporting me._  
_And I wish that everyone will only undergo experiences that bring smiles to their faces, and be healthy._  
_I’ll be careful and greet you all again in a healthy state._  
_Thank you._

It feels lacking, as Kyungsoo always feels with his words, especially when he has to commit them to paper, but he definitely means every single one, and time is of the essence. He gnaws his lower lip as he takes a quick snap of the paper and sends the pic to Jaehyuk. “Can you upload this for me? Please, hyung.”

Jaehyuk is quiet as he reviews the message in Kyungsoo’s slightly sloppy, frantic handwriting, and hums agreement. “It’s beautiful and benign. I’ll push it through and deal with the consequences if there are any, pretending I didn’t know they’d take issue with such simple words.”

“Thank you, hyung.” They hang up, and Kyungsoo feels a heavy weight sink down upon him. So much has been out of control since December, and this was one thing he thought he did control: his enlistment decision and telling the world about it. It’s yet another reminder that as an idol, any feeling of control is an illusion. His life is not and hasn’t been his own since he was 17. The swirl of anxiety and anger churns inside him, strong enough that he has to sit down. Head in his hands, he lets the emotional rush crash over him, allowing a quiet moment of weakness away from prying eyes and gossiping voices that he’ll have to endure tomorrow at SM.

When the pain passes, he grabs his phone and answers the consoling and supportive messages from the EXO member groupchat with a few simple messages of, _thanks_ and _let’s meet soon._ The concert is apparently on now, and public knowledge. Great, some antis will be sure to blame him for SM’s delay, despite that being the opposite of how things played out.

He turns off his phone and queues up Still Walking to watch the movie for the tenth time, getting lost in the gentle-pacing, calming visuals, and world full of normalcy. Somewhere along the second act, he falls asleep.

\---

He awakens to the sound and smell of onions sauteing. Kyungsoo blinks his eyes open slowly as his nose recalibrates and-- nope, okay that’s onions burning. He drags himself off the couch and over to the kitchen where Jongin is helplessly trying to stir the onions in a stainless steel pan.

He hustles over and bumps Jongin out of the way with a gentle hip check. “You need oil in the pan, pabo.”

“Mmm,” Jongin hums, closing himself around Kyungsoo in a backhug as the chef takes over at the stove, pouring a tablespoon of olive oil into the hot pan and loosening the charred onions. “I knew the easiest way to wake you would be with a kitchen mishap. That little alarm goes off in your head when someone is ruining food, beep beep beep,” he jokes, letting his lips tickle Kyungsoo’s neck in barely there kisses as he makes the soft beeping noises.

Kyungsoo smiles, head tilting towards Jongin’s naturally in reaction to the light sensations nearing his collarbone. “So you were trying to ruin dinner?”

“No. It was likely, but there was always the chance I’d succeed and then it’d be a happy result to surprise you with. Either way, you were gonna get up and be amused. A win-win, really.”

Kyungsoo snorts but gives his boyfriend an appreciative peck on the cheek, adding in the carrots to the pan to cook. “How was your trip?”

They make small talk while Kyungsoo finishes preparing the meal, not broaching the heavy topic of enlistment yet. They’ve been together so long, Jongin can read his mood easily and knows that it’ll come up when he’s ready. He doesn’t push.

While cleaning up the dishes, they get into a small water fight that Jongin instigates just to tease him by taking off his shirt and insisting Kyungsoo needs to, too, because “you’re all wet, hyung.” Kyungsoo only towels off his shirt, to Jongin’s mock disappointment, and then they plop down on the couch together.

Wordlessly, Jongin takes his hand, rubbing small circles into the back of it. Kyungsoo gives him a sad smile, an open invitation to serious conversation that Jongin takes.

“I got your text.”

He swallows thickly. “Did you see it before any articles?”

Jongin nods. “You were the prime story on the news as I walked through the terminal. You went public right away?” he asks. No bite to his words, over not doing it while they together. Just a confused curiosity.

Kyungsoo shakes his head. “Leaked. Internally or by someone in the enlistment office, I don’t know.” It’s times like this that Kyungsoo is once again glad he keeps no social media accounts. He can only hope Jongin isn’t checking his. He doesn’t want to know what’s being said about him or speculated about EXO.

Jongin tugs him to lay down in a warm embrace, the kind that really lets the love between them seep down into their bones. Legs entwined, hearts pressed together, cheek to cheek. They lay there for several minutes in silence before Kyungsoo can feel the stray tears drip from Jongin’s eyes down onto his own face.

They’re both in need of comfort right now, neither one pretending to be strong.

“I can’t believe we’re having the concert without you,” Jongin whispers.

“I know. Claim at least a few of my lines, okay? You already know them by heart.” The light-hearted tone he was trying for fails as he gets choked up over knowing he won’t get to sing the melodies that Jongin brings to life with his dancing. That he won’t get to stand on stage with his members, his brothers, and they’ll have to go on without him, for an indeterminate span of time. It feels like a true end to an era.

They hold each other through the wave of grief, until it takes its leave a few minutes later. They’ve spent several months preparing for this, the pain of separation, and they still have another month to go. Kyungsoo has come to believe there’s no way to fully prepare: The sadness never disappears, it lays in wait and flares up at various intervals. But it can only burn for so long at a time, too. And this low is at its end.

Wiping a tear away, Kyungsoo sighs and asks Jongin, philosophically: “Do you ever worry that you’ve already had the best day of your life, and you didn’t realize it?”

“No. Because I know tomorrow, you’ll still be in it. And that means there’s always a chance for it to surpass any day I’ve already had.” The conviction in Jongin’s answer sparks fresh tears, as he cradles Kyungsoo’s face and places a tender kiss on his lips. “Being with you gives me unlimited hope for even brighter futures.”

Their lips find each other again, and again, mouths fitting together in perfect synchronicity as they meld, gently tasting and tugging in all the right ways.

“When did you get so wise and romantic?” Kyungsoo asks amid the brush of their lips.

“Since you taught me what it really means to love someone.”

Kyungso grins. “Sweet talker.”

They enjoy a few more lingering kisses before Kyungsoo stands up, leading Jongin off the couch, too. “Come on. We both have early mornings tomorrow, concert prep for you and more ‘renegotiations’ for me. Let’s get to bed.”

They wash up and dress down for the night, slipping into satin sheets and finding each other’s bodies in the middle of the bed, nestling together as Kyungsoo turns out the lamp.

“So,” Jongin says, reiterating the plan, as he has every night since they first hatched it. “Twenty-one months.”

“Yep.”

“And after the concerts, in three months time… I enlist.”

“For eighteen months,” Kyungsoo confirms.

“Then in March 2021, we’ll discharge.”

“Together.” Kyungsoo wraps his hand around Jongin’s tightly, pressing it into his chest.

Jongin squeezes back. “Together.”

**Author's Note:**

> References:
> 
>   * Kyungsoo took cooking classes earlier this year and [completed his licensure exam in April](https://twitter.com/exoxoi__do/status/1126093947481116672)
>   * Chanyeol and Kyungsoo [went to Japan multiple times](https://twitter.com/wondeukist/status/1117351480225255424) in the early part of the year
>   * He also went with [his actor squad of hyungs recently](https://twitter.com/kyungseng/status/1129633071450300416)
>   * Enlistment timeline and [pic of Soo’s handwritten note](https://twitter.com/babyso_o/status/1133987022421483520)
>   * [Translation of Kyungsoo’s handwritten note](https://twitter.com/byunificial/status/1133921406452883456) to us, which made me finally breakdown in tears  
> 

> 
> I’m extremely emotional over the unanticipated bombshell of Kyungsoo enlisting early, but I have faith he knows what he’s doing and it’s what’s best for him in the long run. I’m not leaving EXO or Kyungsoo’s fandoms - imma keep my ass parked right here bc EXO didn’t raise no weakass bitches. I joined fandom during OT12 eras and I’ll be a fan til the end.
> 
> There are many theories and possibilities, and I didn’t really want to commit to fleshing any one of them out bc I don’t want this oneshot to be interpreted as insider facts on what went wrong in 2019. The whole 21 months vs 18 months service times is very confusing right now, so I spun the happiest ending I could out of that ambiguity bc WE DESERVE SOME HAPPINESS TODAY. I hope this brought you some comfort or help working through your sadness.
> 
> As Soo said, be happy and healthy, everyone <3 Drop me a comment and cry with me during your emotional rollercoaster moments
> 
> at1stsoo 
> 
> [Twitter](http://www.twitter.com/at1stsoo) | [Tumblr ](http://at1stsoo.tumblr.com)| [Curiouscat](http://curiouscat.me/at1stsight)


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